last june, i went on racing the Hell On Wheels MX Rally at Milestone MX park, Riverside, CA.
amazing day in the dirt with good people and great vibes.

its "ride what you brung" mentality, laughs and good times.

One guy caught my attention. Greg Landers was all over the track flying in style with OG vintage gear, helmet and matching Yamaha. dude sure got steez and speed. happened that the guy i was battling with in my class was no other than his father Landers Sr giving me hard times with his very efficient Triumph Rickman. well the Landers Rule.

Hadrien Picard & Vincent Peraud are often on bike trips around the world with Matthias and showed some great action & lifestyle photos from around the globe.

i know Matthias since he's 15 or 16, always followed the evolution of his amazing skills. we shot a story for GQ few years ago and kept talking about shooting more, but both our schedules never matched.

we finally spent half a day in studio last fall. i was testing some gear for Hasselblad and invited him to come for what was supposed to be only a test shoot.

One good thing about flatland BMX is that you can almost do it anywhere. no need of a specific spot or surface. the studio was kinda tiny and Matthias managed to pull lots of tricks.

A month later i was asked by Redbull to select some images to join the RBTME event.
i went on picking images from this test shoot. but rather than showing impressive tricks, i went on to pick just one trick, the most basic one : a bunny up. the one trick common to any kind of riding, the first trick, the base.

while we were shooting, model Juliette Lamet showed up and i got her all dressed up in OG vintage Haro BMX gears to pose with Matthias. Juliette rules in front of the lens and both got along well. another great afternoon in studio. the RBTME show was nicely put together by the Redbull crew for an crowded opening and a beautiful event.

6.01.2012

Caroll Shelby 23.01.1923 - 10.05.2012
The great Caroll Shelby passed away at 89 years old. he was the last of the dinausorus from the great racing 50's and sure a hell of a man, and a true legend.
2 years ago i was lucky to spend a day with him on the set of a March-LA.B photoshoot. it is always a unique experience to be able to share a moment with such a great man.
he was mentally as young as the crew, way cool and very excited by the project. i knew at the time this might be the only opportunity for me to meet such a myth, and was always supposed to stop by again say hi and never did due to my alwaysoverbookedschedulewhileinCali. i keep this day as a precious privilege and great memories. he sure will be missed, but we'll keep dreamin for years watching him race on videos or just admiring all the uber-performant cars he built and tuned over the decades. for all this Merci Mr Shelby and congratulation for all you did.

i need to thank the talented designer Jerome Mage. this day and photoshoot would never have happened without him. Jerome is a proud owner of a Mustang Shelby and a big fan since his youth, he came up with the desire of doing a watch collab March LA.B x Shelby in honor of The Green Hornet, a legendary Shelby Mustang that never went to production, and actually killed it and with Mr Shelby's blessing.

5.15.2012

Last february i shot French designer Jerome Dreyfuss's next catalog. always a pleasure to work with him
and his crew. here are some spreads from the catalog featuring Virginie Lanoue & Mohini Geisweiller.

5.14.2012

At Rocker Speedshop Paris Pierre & Philipe know how to take good care of their customers.
last saturday, they parked a 50's Ford pick-up on the opposite side of their shop, asked
"Rocky Malek" to jump in and play music, and asked their friends to come show their bikes
and get free beer right on the sidewalk.
it was a great cool moment during the afternoon, Rocky Malek played some kick ass Rock'n'Roll
classics and we all had a good time. thanks guys, can't wait till the next one.

5.10.2012

I only shoot live photos for my own pleasure, wich means only for bands or artists i love or respect a lot.
Hanni El Khatib is sure one of those, and after missing 4 of his Parisian lives over the last 2 years i finally
could give a positive answer to his invitation for his gig at La Maroquinerie last February.
damn it was good and powerfull, only 2 men on stage and full raw energy. he's The man.

5.09.2012

I will be part of the groupshow for Wheels & Waves in Biarritz June 16th. don't miss this event, this for sure is going to be huge. lots of people coming from UK, Italy, Spain, Danemark, Belgium, Germany, USA and even a guest from Australia. artshow, surf sessions, rides and concerts, plus a big time auction.
check more infos at : wheels-and-waves.com
did i forget to mention this is organised by the fellas from Southsiders-MC and Blitzkrieg Machines MC...
2 more good reasons to come visit Biarritz in June.

In order to make sure the bike is ready, i spent another lovely day at Chatokhine's HQ in Ouerray last monday. it didn't start well for me as i killed my back loading the BSA in the Van. it was 6 am and for some reason i didnt use the ramp and got screwed. i still can barely walk but got lot of hope it will be fixed for Dirt Quake.
Frank spent the entire day making dozen of nice spacers for the BSA. he killed it.
i had broke my wallet to buy a pair of Maxxis DTR-1, and first surprise was : they don't fit !
the frame is so narrow it won't let em get in. luckily i had a pair of Heidenaus K-34.
i still need to install the Cut-Out Switch that i am waiting from Foxy, and still need to find a way to set up the carburation. damn, this bike still works only On or Off, no mid-rpm's, i hope to get it runnin well on time.

Dirt Quake minus 10 days, since first day i saw the poster i knew i couldn't miss this event. i've been dreaming of FlatTrack since years, and decided this would be the right time to break the ShortTrack cherry. i have never experienced riding on an oval, so i entered the race and will have my first attempt

on race day. ok this is a bit sketchy as i may be slow or unable to handle it, but it worth a try, and at least i do have a weapon for that : my 73 BSA B50mx Short-Tracker. i own this sexy beauty since a year now, and have been able to ride it only on straight asphalt. the bike is tiny as i like and narrow as a model's ass, light, brutal and almost ready to race. can't wait to be on site at Coventry's Speedway sharing the experience with all the cool guys from UK.

Last fall, i've been part of a very cool project that was launched last month for iconic eyebrand Persol.
i've been asked with 7 other contemporary filmmakers to direct a "carte blanche" video.
every artist had just a word to work as a starting point then was free to express himself. each word symbolizes one step in the making of a Persol product.
i was given the word “INSPIRATION”

Inspiration can come from a smell, a noise, a colour, a curve, whatever, but i decided u don't necessarly get it and sometimes need to go on a quest for it.
I thought i mainly find inspiration on the road, so i jumped in a plane to LA, then cruise for three days and 1400 miles in my Boogie Van helped with my good friend Steve Zeitzoff, and pretty much freestyle filming landscapes and atmospheres on the road. very simply.
My idea is that Inspiration isn't something easy to catch, even if you have it in you, you might need, sometimes to look for it or just look for the mental state or cencentration required to get connected with yourself, and...get inspired.

Go check http://www.persol.com/international/days and take some time to also watch the other films directed by such artists as Ari Marcopoulos, Gregoire Alexandre, Asa Mader, Alistair Taylor-Young, Fabio Paleari, Katerina Jebb and Yi Zhou.

A big thank you to Hanni El Khatib for the music.
here are some stills from my film, travel high !